Post Top Ad

Hi,
It has been I while, since we are hardly ever here anymore I feel a little awkward talking to you about this fun pattern without telling you what is going on in my life. The last couple of months have been a little challenging but what is life without a few challenges. We had some changes that have been a bit of a challenge to our family's financial stability. I have been a stay at home mom for about 6 years and it looks like it is time for me to return at least part time if not full time to the working world. Some days I was sure the stress and the insecurity was going to swallow me hole.

One of those stresses has been looking at my wardrobe and knowing that my wardrobe is mostly "mommy clothes" of yoga pants and graphic tee shirts. I knew the Runway Skirt would be a great option for re-entering the work force. We seamstresses love when our vision is realized and everything turns out perfect but sometimes a project gives us experience and helps us be prepared for the next time we sew the pattern. I have to admit that this particular skirt fit more into the second category, it didn't turn out quite as I had imaged but I am here sharing my experience with you so that when you sew up the Runway Skirt it will be just as amazing as you imaged.

I had hoped that this skirt would have turned out a bit more business formal but my fabric choice of jersey and skirt length of midi reads a little more business casual, which will be great for some of the positions I am looking into where I would be working with children. I wasn't paying attention when I originally started cutting out my material but the godets need to be out of a light weight fabric with good drape, so keep that in mind when you are picking out your fabric.

I have been trying to deal with this stress in a more productive way that I usually do by cleaning up my eating instead of binge eating my stress numb. This has made my sizing a little different and I think that in the future I would go down a size and I would use for the main fabric one with much more recovery and spandex. It was one of those cases that using the fabric I had on hand really wasn't my best option.

I had a really hard time putting together this skirt because I kept getting back pattern pieces confused. I would line it up only to have little man (18 months old) run across them and make them into a big heap where I would have to reconfigure them once again. I am embarrassed to admit this but for you I am willing to be honest it took me probably 10 times before I realized the easiest way to keep the pattern pieces straight was to pin a number on the top of each pattern piece. Once I did that it sewed together so much faster and easier.

I must have stretched one of the outside pieces when I was putting it together wrong because the back right piece just seemed a bit longer than the rest and I know I cut it with the mirroring side. I tried to ease it in but when I put my leg up and bend just so it does show that slight pucker.

Aren't you so glad that I have troubleshooted this skirt pattern for you so that soon you can be walking the room like your own personal catwalk? The skirt is currently 20% off through December 9th. No code needed.

This year for Sew Ready to Play, I tried to break the mold of what I've done in the past by sewing something that could benefit all of us.

The result was Angry Birds Toss by made modifying the Roly Poly Critters pattern from Swoodson Says. The modifications weren't too tricky because the pattern already came with pattern pieces for other animals.

I just took those pattern pieces and kept a similar scale and just adjusted the shapes so it more closely aligned with angry birds. Then glue on some expressive eye brows and a beak. "Wah-La" you have an Angry Bird.The egg was made using five of the six pattern pieces.

Red took no major modification to the pattern piece, just some killer eyebrows.

To make Bomb, I took my main pattern piece and put it in my copier and changed the scale to 150%. I made copies from the top and bottom and taped the enlarged pieces together.

For Chuck I only used three of the six pattern pieces so that he was oblong. To make his feathers I simply sewed together three pieces of felt in the shape of his feathers and trimmed off the excess.

I plan to make pigs next, but a hectic week made it hard to finish that as well.

I hope you enjoyed this project almost as much as we did!
Be sure to check out what the other some of the other talented bloggers shared for Sew Ready to Play.

I want to tell you about an awesome pattern but first I think I should tell you the back story to this sewing project. A few weeks ago Al was here for a short visit and we decided to take the oldest 4 of our kids swimming at the local lake...

I guess I should rewind for a second....I have a Tankini that was gifted to me by Jo, because she didn't like it but I am cheap and that hasn't kept me from using it for the last several years. First it isn't tight enough in the waist on the top so as soon as I hit the
water it floats up and then there is the part about the plunging
neckline that requires that I wear a camisole so I don't expose myself
in more ways than one. The redeeming quality about the tankini used to
be the bottoms but since I was gifted the suit they have gotten embarrassingly thin. I thought no worries
there is a detached swim skirt that can pretty well cover that up
especially for swimming in an algae infested lake, no one can see
anything under that water. So for our evening swim I choose the tankini
bottoms with swim skirt and a sports bra, camisole and work out shirt. I
knew that with taking so many little kids I couldn't navigate the
halter grab.

Everything was going fine the kids were having a great time in the lake until all the sudden I realize the elastic on the skirt completely gave way. I think no big deal I will just take the dumb swim skirt off then I realize I can't do that remember embarrassingly thin fabric. So I end up having to tie the skirt tight enough that it can get me back to the car without over exposure.

I am a big proponent of going out and playing with your kids in the water no matter what your shape is or what you look like, because your kids are not going to remember what you looked like just how much fun you had together. I love this article and try and keep it in mind when it is time to have fun with my kiddos. I realized at that moment where I didn't have a swimsuit that allowed me to be the mom I wanted to that I needed to change that and really look for my ideal "Fun Mom Swimsuit". Al and I talked about it and I told her 1 would be a longish board short with built in underwear so I could walk confidently and comfortably into any pool. It might be a kick back to my basketball days but there is something so comforting about a longer looser short.

I am going to be honest I had a couple small problems sewing this pattern. The problems were mine, I forgot to mark where the shorts overlap (and forgot there was an overlap mark) until I got done fretting over where that line was. I blame this on the mix of cutting out early morning so I could avoid slicing the crazy toddler that loves to sit right in the middle of the cutting mat and sewing it with 3 crazy kids around with their little friends. I also was a little confused with how to put on the bias tape but again I am pretty sure that is because of Ryder's constant stream of, "So mom.....(insert ridiculous hypothetical question)?" or looking to see what toddling Wayne has put in his mouth that I have to dig out.

I made 2 adjustments I took out the fly and replaced the waistband with a tall yoga waistband. I took out the fly because I have become too lazy too busy for details lately. I replaced the waistband with a yoga waistband for two reasons: 1. I need a junk in the trunk adjustment for my pants and shorts and I didn't have the brain power to think about this adjustment so with a tall yoga waistband my junk is going to stay un-embarressingly covered and the thought of putting in grommets sounded hard.

It was really fun to see my kids reaction when I put them on. Boston's went something like this, "Mom, I like your shorts. Their really pretty. Now we can go swimming!" and Ryder's went something like this, "So Mom, your shorts are really cool! Can we go swimming tomorrow?"

If you are a comfort queen who just wants to have some awesome board shorts to go have fun with your kids I couldn't recommend this pattern enough.

I have to apologize for no swim pictures in this post, I had my period come this week and that make swimming a total no go. But next week I am sure Fun Mom will be back and we can hit up one of the pools with Dad. And maybe when that happens I will have my perfect top done as well...here's to wishful thinking.

For as long as I can rembember I have been a dreamer. I dream at night and wake up in the morning typically remembering my dream and when I can't usually some little reminder throughout the day spurs it back. It used to be that most my dreams felt like they came out of a fiction book with time travel, aliens, secret agents, magic wands, ect. This may have something to do with my choice of books.

Lately my dreams have expressed the thoughts and concerns of my heart. A couple days ago I had a dream that my mom showed up on my door step wanting to make gobs and gobs of strawberry jam. In reality 14 hours is too long of a drive just for strawberry jam, but I do wish she could just surprise us with a visit like that.

The dream that brings me back to you.I was at some kind of quilting guild and they were preparing a group quilt to present at a national quilting show. I'm not sure if this sort of thing even exists, but it did in my dream. I was new to the club and didn't know anyone, but eagerly listened and observed. The leader was telling a story about how we needed to never abandon our projects. She referenced a blog that she had once been following and collaborating with when they suddenly disappeared. What would you know, the blog was called Shaffer Sisters. I raised my hand and admitted that I was one of those Shaffer Sisters. I tried to explain that often times we just overdid it and we finally hit a brick wall. In my dream I felt so determined to fix the blog and bring back, but the right way this time. When my little one awoke me to cuddle with me in bed, I felt that same resolve and tried to reason through it.

Here's a dose of honestly. It wasn't hard turning our back on the blog last year. We were at a breaking point. Scary had some very scary moments as her new little baby who should've been perfectly healthy struggled to breathe and thrive. Jo was raising 6 kids, working in a retirement home at nights, and growing a sweet baby inside her that didn't make it. I was dealing with fear from a fugitive break in, facing the prospect of life with my newly graduated husband which would involve moving far from my family.

On top of all these things I think we were just tired. When I thought of the deadlines, I just wanted to make time disappear and watch my baby take her first steps. I wanted to treasure the last few visits with Scary without any stress or outside pressures. There's a reason we were sewing the Jalie Mens shirt on moving boxes. A big part of it was that I was becoming apathetic and bittter toward the blog. It had felt like blogging would be the death of us.

When I was pregnant with Sally I remember a week where as soon as the kids were asleep I would get to work sewing until the early hours of sunlight were streaming through the window and I would pass out on the couch only to wake up mothering in a house of disaster. I am pretty sure I put on 8 lbs that week and had my midwife concerned. My only explaination was, I've been doing a LOT of sewing.

At the end of the week I went to visit Scary and have the projects photographed. I remember as I was driving home that night nodding off multiple times and doing all I could to stay awake and make it home. The moment of salvation came in the form of a cup of ice from a fastfood resturant along the way. Not only was I putting my life on the line and that of others on the road, I was driving with 2 snoozing little ones in the back seat and one in my tummy. I know this wasn't the only time I over did it and drove super tired, but it was the moment my body couldn't take it any more.

But now after a much needed sabatical, I'm ready to tear down the wall brick by brick. Hopefully what is rebuilt is beautiful and the experiences that have been gained can be walking stones for the future. That the same mistakes aren't made again. At the moment it is going to be just one Shaffer Sister sharing real life thoughts and experiences. It's easy right now to sneak in a few moments on the computer as I'm working on lesson ideas for school.

My dream helped clarify my feelings. I still want to have a place where people can be encouraged and uplifted. And if no one reads at least it can be a place where I express the thoughs of my heart and on darker days I can be uplifted and remimded of dragons slayed.

Life has kept me engaged in my family, but there hasn't been very many opportunities to dust off the sewing machine and make something satifying. When I heard about the Sew Yourself Some Love Series I knew I had to join. There are so many talented designers participating in this series, but the two big patterns on my homebody wish list were the Going Rogue Socks from Wolf and Tree and the Drop Pocket Cardigan from Jalie. From start to finish I had them both cut out and sewn by lunch time with three little ones destroying the house.

Since having children (or maybe it's because I rarely wear shoes) my body's circulation isn't as great and my feet are always so cold. Now when I get into bed I don't have to chase my husband out the otherside with my icy toes. The big bonus is they sew up so fast and don't require much fabric. I must add a huge collection to my everyday wardrobe.

The cardigan is perfect and oh so cozy. plus the huge fully lined pockets are perfect. When my three year-old saw it he said, "Mom, you have purse pockets?! ... I can even put my hands in here too." The instructions are amazing for a beautifuly constructed sweater with so many great seams finishes. I was so amazed that I had my husband take a look, but unfortunately he doesn't know how to appreciate those finer things in life. From start to finish I had both pieces cut out and sewn by lunch time with three little ones destroying the house.

It probably seems like the Shaffer Sisters have dropped off the face of the Earth, but we're still here I promise. Mostly we're just trying to get through the everyday, keep life in the right perspective, and enjoy the journey.

Jo is immersed in raising her six kids and also in the works of starting an afterschool program for the children of her city. Scary is carpooling her kindergartener to school, homeschooling her preschooler, and trying to keep a mobile baby safe. I am spending a lot of the time home with my 3 kids (teaching, cleaning, organizing, and even sometimes cooking).

There was so much that we learned and accomplished when we were most active with our blog, but there were parts of life that were lacking. Balance and simplicity being one of the biggest parts. Through the chaos, our true purposes were facing interference.

The Sisters

We are three sisters, who stay busy feeding, dressing and loving our families. Great women have taught us the domestic arts and we try to live and share that tradition with others, and ever improve upon it. As we navigate through life's adventures our relationship with each other gives us strength through struggles big and small. click here →